Trailer hitch



Oct. 8, 1940. J. A. RASMUSSEN TRAILER HITCH Filed Sept. 12, 1939 I I I lun /77w" Jo/m Farm J1 fl/forrws/ Patented Oct. 8, 1940 PATENT OFFICE TRAILER HITCH John A. Rasmussen, Salem, reg., assignor of forty-nine per cent to Reuben G- Doege, Salem,

Oreg.

Application September 12, 1939, Serial No. 294,539

4 Claims.

This invention relates to trailer hitches and the like and is particularly adapted to be used in connection with automobiles and trucks.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a trailer hitch having an adjustment therein for controlling the gripping pressure of the hitch about the ball connection.

Another object of the improved hitch is to provide an eye bolt connection to be used with 10 a bolt connection where a ball connection is not available such as in emergency cases.

A further object of this invention is to provide lock-means within the hitch requiring the use of a wrench or some other type of tool to 16 lock or unlock the same.

Another object of my invention is to provide locking means within a trailer hitch that will maintain the hitch in locked position, even though the pivot pins connecting the mechanism g9 together should become sheared or broken.

A further object of the invention is to provide means of controlling the holding pressure applied to the ball connection.

A still further object of the invention is the providing of means for locking the trailer hitch in locked position so that the locking mechanism cannot be manipulated without unlocking the locking mechanism.

These and other incidental objects will be apao parent in the drawing, Specification and claims.

Referring to the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side sectional view of my new and improved trailer hitch, parts broken away for convenience of lllustration.

a Figure 2 is a sectional view of the trailer hitch,

parts broken away illustrating the same in unlocked position.-

Figure 3 is a plan view of my new and improved trailer hitch showing the tongue of the 0 trailer in dotted position.

Figure 4 is a sectional view, taken on line 4-4 of Figure 1, looking in the direction indicated and illustrating part of the locking mechanism.

In the drawing:

5 I is the main body portion of my trailer hitch, which is secured by suitable fastening means to the tongue of the trailer 2, shown in dotted posltion in Figure 3. The hitch bar 3 is a part of the tractor vehicle, not here shown, and has 50 a ball 4 mounted thereon by any suitable fastening means, such as welding, shown at 5. The ball 4 may be hollow, as illustrated at 6, reducing the cost of production.

A ball socket 1 is slidably mounted within the 55 barrel I of the trailer hitch l. The socket l is retained within the barrel by the adjustable nut 9 threaded within the barrel 8 at ID. A flexible cushion II is held between the socket I and the nut 9 by the spindle |2,'whlch is a part of the socket I. The purpose of this cushion will be 5 later explained. The nut 9 is locked in position by the bolt |2 clamping the lugs I3 and I4 togather and compressing the barrel 8 about the locking nut 5.

A special eye connection 9A is formed on the 10 adjusting nut 9 for turning the nut and providing an eye connection to be used in cases of emergency where a ball connection is not available this is an important feature of the hitch.

A movable socket I5, bears against the ball 4 ll on the opposite side of the socket l by the action of the link IS in relation to the bell crank H. The bell crank H has a cross shaft l8 keyed therein by the key I9 and locked thereto by the set screw 20. The shaft l8 extends through the barrel 8, best illustrated in Figure 4 and has an extension 2| for coacting with a wrench or other suitable tool for rotating the shaft. The link I6 is pivotally mounted at 22 to the bell crank I! at its one end and to the socket l5 at 23 at W its opposite end. It will be noted that the pivot point 22, in Figure 1, is off-set from the center line, this causes the assembly to become locked within itself by the action of the dog 24 resting against the shoulder 25 of the link l6. It will a also be noted that the end 26 of the bell crank rests against the end of the slot 21 of the barrel 8, preventing further movement of the bell crank.

The bell crank i1 also bears against the web a 28 at 29 providing a safety feature so that if the shaft l8 should get broken the bell crank |1 would be forced against the web 28, forcing it downward against the barrel at 30 and preventing the same from releasing the socket l5 when the bell crank and the connecting link It are in the position shown in Figure 1 the compression member H is compressed sumcient to allow a compression action against the ball 4 by the sockets 1 and I5 holding the locking mechanism to a compressed condition. The end 26 of the bell crank may be locked at the position shown in Figure 1 by a bolt passing through the 1 hole 3| into a hole within the lug 32 holding the same in locked position.

In the operation of my new and improved trailer hitch, the opening 33 is placed over the ball 4, a wrench is applied to the end 2| of the shaft l8, the shaft is revolved in a direction that will force the link l6 towards the center line of shoulder 25 of the link I! preventing further,

rotation of the bell crank II, at the same time the end 26 of the crank will contact the end of the slot 34 at 21 preventing further travel also 01' the bell crank. The compression member Ii will maintain the sockets 1 and II against the ball 4 to a suitable working lit. The bell crank l1 may be locked in position, as heretofore described.

I do not wish to be limited to the particular form 0! mechanical embodiment, as other methods of application may be used still coming within the scope oi! the claims to follow.

What is claimed to be new is:

1. A trailer hitch including a hollow elongated main body, means for securing the body adjacent one end of the trailer, a connecting element carried by the trailer and including a circular terminal, a gripping element to engage one end of the circular terminal, a second gripping element to engage the opposite end of the terminal, a link extending from the second gripping element, a bell crank lever mounted for pivotal support on the body, and manually operable to remove the link to a position to force the second gripping element toward the first gripping element to thereby grip the circular terminal 01' the tractor gripping element, a stop carried by the body to limit operative movement of the bell crank lever in the event the pivotal support of the bell crank lever becomes ineffective, and an opening formed in the body to permit manual pressure on the bell crank lever in the event of the inoperativeness of the pivot oi the bell crank lever.

2. A trailer hitch including a hollow elongated main body, means for securing the body adjacent one end to the trailer, a connecting element carried by the trailer and including a circular terminal, a gripping element to engage one end of the circular terminal, a second gripping element to engage the opposite end of the terminal,

, a link extending irom the second grip ing element, a bell-crank lever mounted for pivotal support on the body, and manually operable to remove the link to a position to force the second gripping element toward the first gripping element to thereby grip the circular terminal 0! the tractor gripping element, means for limiting movement of the bell crank lever in operative adjustment in the event of failure of the pivotal support, the ends of the bell crank lever remote from the link passing through an opening in the body and being formed with an opening to register with the opening in the body for the receptionoi a locking bolt.

3. Aconstruction as defined in claim 1 wherein the bell crank lever is open to manual pressure to move the lever to operative position in the event of the failure of the pivotal support of the bell crank lever, one end of the bell crank lever being formed to cooperate with and interlock with the body during such manual pressure for limiting the movement of the bell crank lever.

4. A construction as defined in claim 1 wherein means are provided for longitudinally adjusting the first mentioned gripping member, and an intermediate flexible section is interposed between the adjusting means and the said gripping member to insure a proper working connection between the gripping members and the circular terminal of the tractor element.

JOHN A. RASMUSSEN. 

